The Crux Lathe
by GreenspireTC
Summary: This is a Homestuck fanfic that takes the Imps and gives them a leader who Dave, Rose, and John must fight. Some points of refrence are not completely accurate to Homestuck and i apologize however i had to make some changes to make it sound better. Hope you enjoy!


You wake up on a platform deep in subspace, your head bleeding from what feels like a blow to the head, trying to remember why you are bleeding, or at least why you are on a linoleum platform over sheer nothingness. Searching your mind, you try to remember what your name is, hoping it will aid you in finding out why you are here. While you think, you search the platform for clues. Then it hits you! Your name is Dave and you enjoy swords, puppets, and turn-tables. As you realize remembering helps with nothing, you notice something in your pocket buzzing and recognize the buzzing as your ringtone. Not sure if you want to answer, you leave it ringing to listen to the message. You hear the message playing.

"Dave, where the heck are you? We need you to get back to John's place as soon as possible so we can wipe out the last of the imps. Also, if you can, find Dave Sprite. He can help you."

Having no idea what imps are, who Dave Sprite is, or how he could help you, you realize the only place to go from this platform is down. You suddenly have a great temptation to jump. Seeing as that is your only option, you muster up your courage and jump. As you start to feel light-headed you realize this could go on for a while. Suddenly, you see a glowing object flying towards you at high speed resembling a man wearing shades with wings yet no legs and sword stuck through him.

Before you can react, he grabs you and says, "This will only take a second" as everything goes white. Next thing you know, you are in a stereotype american living room looking at two teenagers, one of each gender staring at you as if you were an enemy and then running over and hugging you.

"Dave!" the girl exclaims, "I'm so glad you made it back. Without you we haven't made any progress since the big battle"

"What battle?" you ask, "All I remember is waking up in subspace with a bleeding head."

"Now that I think of it" says the girl, "You did take a blow from the imperial king. We thought you decided to fall back and check if you were hurt. I guess it was more serious than we thought."

"Imperial King is the big black monster that wears a crown and kills things right?" you ask, feeling as if you recognize the name.

"As a matter of fact yeah!" says the girl.

"Wow, I feel better already", you say sarcastically.

"Enough talk," says the boy standing next to the girl, "We have no time to chat Rose, we need to find the Imperial king's Jester so we can kill him and be done with this whole mess!"

"You're right" says the girl "Are you ready to go Dave?"

"Ready as ever" you reply "Just one question. Who are you guys?"

"I'm rose" says the girl "and this is John. Along with you we are the last known survivors of the human race"

Of course. How could you forget. John and Rose are the only people you ever met when you joined The kickstart. They were also the ones who helped you survive the onslaught of fatal events plaguing earth and killing people on a global scale. Then the imps came. Small black beings that experienced but one emotion. A rage so great that if one were to cross it just once their would be no chance of survival, no matter who you are or what you can do. It was the kickstart that had caused all these things to happen to earth and its inhabitants, however it did not just make problems for people. It also gave the people who had joined the kickstart a way to stop these events. It was called Strife specibus and it allowed them to combine objects into weapons with the strength to steady earthquakes, to halt tsunamis, and to kill Imps. Your strife specibus happened to be a very strange yet powerful combination. It was a crow mixed with a razor sharp sword. It swung fast and when swung could slice objects up to 20 feet away from the shear force.

If only you knew where it was, you think to yourself as you follow Rose out of the room.

"Where are we going?" you ask Rose.

"Straight to the Imp king" she replies, "We want to finish what we started quickly. Now hold onto my hand, we are about to teleport!"

Before you can say a word, you are standing in front of a large black building with a sign above it that says "The Crux Lathe"

"This is where the Imperial king comes when their are no other options. In a way this is the battle royal." says Rose, "By the way Dave, what are you going to use to fight?"

Without saying a word you point towards a revolver near a dead imp. You walk over to it and check the mag.

"There are five shells remaining" you say, "I've never shot a revolver, but I guess its never too late to learn!"

As you walk through the gates you notice black mist building up around you. The farther into the building you go, the more the mist forms. Finally you walk into a large room with red walls and a transparent floor. Below it you see thousands of dead imps, piled upon each other. In the center of the room you see John who appears to be unconscious next to a dark figure. As you approach the figure it begins to smile. Suddenly he charges straight at you, moving faster than a bullet. As you sidestep him you realize he just wanted you out of the way so he could attack Rose. You fire two bullets, one of which misses the other one hitting his elbow.

"YOU DIRTY HUMANS!" he screams, "YOU WANT ME, THE IMP KING DEAD, BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU DONT DESERVE TO DIE! WELL YOURE WRONG! ITS YOUR FAULT I EXIST, YOU AND YOUR STUPID KICKSTART SO YOU COULD PLAY A GAME. THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

Before you can reply he slams Rose against the wall causing her arm to twist backwards. He picks up her unconscious body and throws it at you. Catching her you check her pulse. None. You stand still, almost unable to hold back your rage, as the imperial king charges at you from behind. You spin around nailing him in the shoulder.

"I have two bullets left," you say, "And you better believe i'm going to make them count"

"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" replies the imperial king, "I WILL NOT DIE LIKE THIS"

Less than a split second later he is behind John, using his body as a shield. Then, as if magic, John opens his eyes giving you a nod as if telling you "Take the shot". You fire the gun, and as the bullet passes through John and into the Imperial king's head. You realize its over. Knowing that their is still one bullet left you push the barrel of the gun under your chin.

"I may have saved humanity," You think to yourself, "But I couldn't save what mattered most."

And with that you pull the trigger.


End file.
